Friday, May 4, 2012

I was invited to go to Grand Falls, Arizona back in March with friends Pete Pallagi and Nate Pallace. Pete and Nate are staff photographers at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ.

Pete was the tour guide since Nate and I have never been to Grand Falls before. I’ve seen tons of pictures of the place but I had no idea where it is or how to get there. Pete’s been there many times and guided us right to the spot in spite of the fact theirs know signs guiding you in. For the most part, this is a primitive area deep into the Navajo Reservation in Northern Arizona.

It was great for several reasons! It was completely void of government intervention. No park service, therefore no entry fee’s, no designated parking lots, no fences, no maintained trails, no signs, no rules. Imagine that, leaving it up to us to leave the place as we found it. Refreshing!

It’s been a while since I’ve been on a photo trip so I greatly appreciated the opportunity. I’ve been so focused on my photography business that my personal work has been reduced to practically zero. So this was a little photo vacation for me in a way. Interestingly this was a day trip. From Phoenix we were there in maybe three and half hours.

About the photo’s. These are all digital. My camera was a Canon 5D Mark III. I used a 24 to 70 f-2.8 zoom lens for most of it. I also used a neutral density filter to get the water slightly blurred. The ND filter allowed me to shoot; ISO100 shutter speed of 1/8 of a second with an aperture of f-22. For me, I like the water slightly blurred. It gives the a sense of motion.

About Me

Transformation is a photography blog that was created to show my personal and project work. Some of my fine art work is currently represented at the Tilt Gallery in Phoenix www.http://tiltgallery.com.
I feel it's important from time to time to revisit old passions and to enjoy the purity of photography. Yes, it's purely self-indulgent but it helps me satisfy the creative beast within.
When I started this blog, its purpose was primarily photojournalism since I was a photojournalist for 20 years and finally Director of Photography for the East Valley Tribune Newspaper. When that came to an end January 1, 2009 the blog was floundering and it was difficult to find purpose. In a way, I was trying keep one foot in the door as I was trying to hang onto my past.
I'm now moving forward. This is the photography I do for the purity of the art.
Thank you for your support and for viewing my blog. Feel free to leave a comment.
For my commercial work please visit,
http://bradarmstrongphotography.com/